Portfolio Career definition

Portfolio careers are defined by diversity of industry and role – they don’t follow traditional career paths of rank progression in a particular function or company. Portfolio careers may contain more part-time or temporary positions and are commonly used to ensure a more sustainable work-life balance. Some individuals may also have more than one job at a time.

Portfolio careers have become more popular in recent years as achieving a better work-life balance has become more of a mainstream goal. Another driving factor has been a realism that graduates and those first starting out in work can’t know precisely what they want to do for the rest of their lives.

Additionally, there’s a growing movement for those in established careers to ‘break the mould’ and experience a different job or industry – in particular an ‘escape from the office’ approach that has proven popular in high-pressure locations such as London and New York.